Olivia was the first to wake up, her head was pounding and her stomach was protesting the contents on which she had ingested hours ago. As she shifted everything body slightly she felt an arm draped across her waist so protectively. Elliot. For the second night in a row their bodies slept side by side so innocently bringing each other a welcoming comfort, but this time he was in her bed. A wave of panic washed over her as she tried to remember the events of night, she remembered drinking a lot and yelling at Elliot before becoming a total emotional mess. "Shit" she thought to herself. This wasn't her, this wasn't how she handled things. She was grateful to have Elliot in her life, he always had her back no matter what even when they argued against and fought against each other, he was there. He was one of the very few people she had in her life that truly cared for her whole heartedly which was something she never had. From growing up with an abusive, absent mother and no family and found it hard to accept someone was really there for her without malicious intentions or wanting anything from her or her body. Just genuine love and trust.

Elliot felt the bed move and opened his eyes to see Olivia getting out of bed. He rubbed his hand down his face and realised he had actually stayed the night again at Olivia's and was in her bed.

"How are you feeling this morning?" He said huskily as he pulled himself up never taking his eyes off of her.

Olivia pulled on her robe and sat down at the edge of the bed facing him. "I feel like shit," she half heartedly laughed "but I'm okay," she said softly with a light smile. "I'm sorry about last night. I just..just sort of..lost it. Everything overwhelmed me at once." she said softer and took a deep breath as she looked at the floor not wanting to make eye contact with him.

Elliot knew she was feeling vulnerable and embarrassed, a side of her he rarely experienced so remained cautious with her. "Liv, you don't need to apologise. It's me remember" he laughed, "How many times have you save my stupid ass and put up with my shit?"

"Too many times Stabler, but I'll keep doing it." She said, this time locking eyes with him. His ocean blue eyes were just as gorgeous in the early morning sunlight. She broke their gaze after a few moments.

"You've always had my back and I promise to always have yours Liv" Elliot went to grab her hand as she got up but she was moved too quickly for him to make contact with her.

"You should probably go" she said as her voice started to crack.

"I know you need someone right now. I'm here, let me be here for you." He almost pleaded.

"El I'm fine, really. You should go home and get cleaned up for work" she quickly stood up and headed toward the bathroom.

"Olivia.." Elliot called as she glanced back at him.

"I'm proud of you." He said locking his eyes with hers and he could see the tears she was holding back.

She felt his words in her soul. No one had ever said that to her before in her life.

Olivia closed the bathroom door and locked it behind her. She held onto the edges of the sink and looked up at her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes were puffy and still red from crying the night before and the fact she was on the brink of tears again didn't help. She was embarrassed that Elliot had witness her in that state. Hell, Elliot was concerned for her because he had never seen his partner like in that state and he didn't take that lightly. She turned on the shower and let the hot water run over her skin, she made it so hot it almost stung but it felt good and took a sigh of relief at the feeling as the steam filled the bathroom.

Elliot was left sitting in her room, in her bed. He knew she was going to resort back to the stubborn independent Olivia Benson he knew all too well at some point and put her walls back up ready to shut him out be he was prepared for the fight. The fight to keep her mental and emotional well-being protected, keep her heart and soul out of harms way. She was too important to him to let her hurt any more than she already had been in her lifetime, by him included. He got up and attempted to make the bed and placed what seemed to be the twenty throw pillows she had onto the bed. He laughed to himself seeing this part of Olivia's life, she was more than just a cop after all. He walked into the kitchen and looked through he cupboards to find some kind of pain relief knowing she would need it to survive the work day ahead of her. Elliot got out two coffee cups and boiled the kettle to prepare their coffee. After about 20 minutes her heard the bathroom door open and Olivia emerged dressed for work.

"God Elliot!" She gasped as she saw a figure standing in her kitchen, "You scared me! I told you to go home" she said as she brushed pass him.

"Yeah, but we both know I wasn't going to do that" he half smirked at her reaction, "Coffee?" He offered handing her the cup, "And these" as he handed her bottle of Advil he found.

"Thanks" she huffed acceptingly as she sat down on a stool at the island counter.

Olivia took a few sips of coffee and swallowed the Advil, and then rested her head on her arms against the bench. She felt like hell and having Elliot watching her every move didn't help. Elliot took a seat next to her and started to rub small circles on her back. The touch of his hand caused her to flinch at his first touch, she wasn't expecting him to be so casual with physical contact now after all those years the spent together keeping the unspoken rule of strictly no contact in general. Recently their physical contact rule had faded and become a more casual thing. Olivia was someone who thrived on physical contact and touch, it brought her so much comfort.

They sat in silence for a few minutes as they sipped at their coffee.

"How did you and Kathy do it El?" She almost whispered. "How did you have a baby so young and manage?" The question caught him off guard slightly.

"Liv" he sighed. He knew this conversation wasn't going to end well. "We struggled, all the time. It was hard..kids are hard at any age." He looked over at her while she focused on her coffee.

"But you managed to raise Maureen as teenagers, you and Kathy were younger than me when I had Emma."

"You don't need to do this to yourself Liv" he said gently. He knew where she was leading the conversation. "We were young and thought we were in love, our families wanted us to be together or at least made us be together. I never thought I would be a father so young but wanted to fo the right thing by them both." He looked at Olivia and could see the hurt in her eyes. Elliot knew her reasoning for place Emma for adoption and understood why. He knew she was always destined to be a mother and would make the most amazing mother at that but it didn't mean she never wanted to be a mother to Emma.

"And you both had your families.." she stated in a monotone voice laced with sadness as she locked eyes with him.

"Olivia, we had completely dif-" he didn't even finish his sentence before she teased up at where it was leading too.

"Elliot" she stared back at him with wide eyes that were like liquid fire. "You need to go. I'll see you at work later." Olivia got up and disappeared into her bedroom. He had to let her go this time, she needed her space.

"I'll see you later Liv" he called as he left her apartment.

Olivia emerged from her from bedroom a few minutes later. She didn't want to come off as being standoffish but she needed to gather her composure and thoughts enough to get thorough the day. She decided that going into work early would keep her distracted enough despite her head still pounding. She grabbed her gun and badge from bedroom and went over to collect her keys and purse from near the door when she saw a note on the table.

He had left a her note;

We're partners, for better or worse. Don't ever forget that Olivia.

-El.

She held it for moment as the words resonated within her mind. He really was trying to be there for her, set at her own pace and just genuinely wanted to support her through all the emotions she was experiencing. He didn't want to step on her toes too much but in true Elliot Stabler fashion he was naturally going to be protective over her whether she liked it or not, for the most part it was not.

She pulled a small smiled at the note and folded it up placing it into her purse before she left.


Elliot hated leaving her but he knew Olivia well enough to know she needed space. She wasn't a custom to letting people in, let alone seeing her so vulnerable. He had only really seen Olivia cry a handful of times, but nothing compared to last night and it really tore at his heart. His badass partner was at her breaking point emotionally, she had been holding onto all those emotions for so long not allowing anyone else to share the burden.

He arrived back at his apartment and took a quick shower, shave and fresh clothes. As he unbuttoned his shirt he could still smell the scent of Olivia's perfume lingering on the fabric. God he loved the smell of her, after all these years she had never changed, it was Liv.

He got into a change of clean clothes and decided to grab some breakfast for himself and his partner on the way to the precinct. He was eager to check up on Olivia again and knew she would need some hangover food.


Olivia arrived at the 1 6 early before anyone else in the squad. She sat down at her desk, slouching over and rubbing her temples attempting to soothe her head.

"Olivia" a voice called.

"Captain" she replied as she turned her chair to face him.

"What brings you in so early, Benson?" He asked.

"Thought I would catch up paperwork I've neglected from Friday" she said as she walked over to the coffee machine to put a fresh pot on. She knew damn well she would need a lot of caffeine to survive the day.

Cragen had no idea of the events that transpired over the weekend, how could he. And she wasn't exactly about the vent to her boss and tell her how hung over she was. Don was not in the mood for early morning Monday drama so he didn't bother pushing Olivia but was going to be keeping a close eye on her during the day. He needed his detectives headspace where they belong, on the job.

Elliot walked into the squad room just before 8am. He had in his hands a paper bag with bagels and coffee. After last night he knew she would need something to settle her stomach for the day and knowing Olivia's eating habits she had probably only consumed coffee and the Advil her gave her earlier. She was a grown woman the proved from an early age she could take care of herself but he was always reminding her to eat or forcing a meal on her. He was shocked she could go so long without eating or 'forget' to eat and made him worry.

Elliot walked over to their desks and simply placed the bag of food and the coffee on Olivia's desk and walked over to his desk to take a seat facing her. She looked and smiled at his gesture.

"Eat" he simply said pointing to the bag, like a father telling their five year old to eat their meal.

"Thanks El" she rolled her eyes at his tone but shot him grateful look and passed him a takeaway coffee.

Elliot glanced over at her eat while she ate her breakfast as she made her familiar pouty face while trying to focus on her paperwork tapping her pen.

"Elliot" she said warningly without even looking up, she could feel his eyes focused on her.

"What?" He replied almost tauntingly.

"Just stop it, I'm fine" she said in frustration as she walked over to put their breakfast rubbish in the bin.

Elliot took a deep breathe and ran his hand down his face, he had to tread lightly with her and not be overbearing.

She appreciated his concern but she didn't need him hovering over her like a lost child. She needed time to work through her emotions and mindset on her own terms and how she wanted to process them. Trying not to be self destructive in the meantime.

The day had been pretty slow with no new cases brought into them. Olivia and Elliot caught up on most of their paperwork. Elliot followed her lead on how to move forward after last night. Olivia being her typical self tried her best to avoid him for most of the day, finding excuses to disappear from her desk or putting her attention to her phone as her mind wandered to Emma. She hadn't heard from her since Emma and her father left the city the previous afternoon day. Olivia played on the thought if she should text or call her first or if she should allow her daughter some space too. Olivia wasn't ready for the idea that her daughter might not want her to be apart of her life and hold anger against her. Her mind was flooded with all the 'what if's' and made her already lingering migraine worse. This however didn't go unnoticed by Elliot, of course. She never fidgeted with her phone so much and he assumed it had something to do with her daughter, finding a distraction, waiting to hear from her.

As the end of the day approached Olivia wanted to get out the precinct as quick as possible to avoid Elliot. She just wasn't in the mood to talk anymore and just wanted to get home. She managed to successfully slip out before Elliot had any chance of catching her. He knew she would pull this move on him, she wanted her space and her first instinct was to run. He was deciding on whether to go over to her apartment again to check on her. She clearly wanted to get away from work or was she pushing Elliot away already.